The Sound of Marketing

There are many aspects of marketing, but many people find themselves ignoring one of the most powerful tools for grabbing customers’ attention: The power of sound!

Many of the staff at Downing have a background working with audio and music. This experience is beneficial in organizing speech or music for presentations, special events, videos, lobbies, retail and trade show displays. But sound is often given the least amount of time and attention compared to other aspects of a presentation.

How can a company best use sound to their advantage? First you have to determine what needs to be accomplished with sound. Is it being used to educate and inform? Is it used to support a claim?Where is it being utilized? Is it for effect? Is it creating a mood?

If the sound is for a live speaker, there’s often a brief discussion right before the event about getting a microphone and sound amplifier. Is it really that simple? It’s not that simple if you want the best results.

Not surprisingly, there are numerous types of microphones. There are wired, wireless, handheld, headset and lapel microphones. There are carbon, condenser, dynamic, piezoelectric & ribbon mics. Some pick up sound in all directions.. some in one direction. Some mics are made for a higher pitch voice; some are made for a lower pitch voice. Are we projecting only voice, or is there also going to be music or some other audio? Is the audio synchronized to video? Is the sound being projected in a noisy trade show hall, or is the sound in a fairly quiet corporate lobby? These are just SOME of the possible questions. The amplification system should be designed to match the venue of the presentation. It shouldn’t be just an afterthought, and it is definitely not “one size fits all!”

I always enjoy the opportunity to incorporate sound into my designs. The ultimate challenge is to engage ALL the senses in the experience we provide our customers, with the end result being success.